Some of the most perilous situations faced by first responders and emergency personnel such as firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical technicians (EMT) involve reaching and rescuing people who are trapped or otherwise unable to move from the upper levels of high-rise structures. Because of the difficult circumstances surrounding these scenarios, first responders and emergency personnel are often required to subject themselves to potentially life-threatening conditions in order to rescue the trapped people. The September 11 attacks on the 1 World Trade Center and 2 World Trade Center towers serve as a stark reminder of the perils faced by first responders and emergency personnel faced with the daunting task of rescuing people trapped in a high-rise location. First responders and emergency personnel on-site were unable to reach many people trapped on the upper levels of the towers following the airliner impacts and subsequent destruction of lower floors preventing their escape. In addition to people onboard the airliners and in the towers, a large number of first responders and emergency personnel perished when the towers eventually collapsed. Once the situation became clear to those trapped in the towers, many people resigned themselves to their fates and opted to leap from the towers to their deaths. This horrifying spectacle was broadcasted on live television and illustrated the need for a means of reaching and rescuing people who are trapped in high-altitude locations such as skyscrapers. As modern architecture and infrastructure continues to evolve, the likelihood of emergencies occurring in high-altitude locations increases as well. Conventional vehicles such as fire trucks and helicopters are limited in the fact that neither vehicle is designed or equipped for rescuing personnel trapped in a high-rise structure. Fire truck ladders are generally only capable of reaching approximately the lower ten levels of a high-rise structure. Helicopter rescue baskets are only capable of reaching people who are trapped on a roof and approximately five levels below the roof. Existing technologies such as these are incapable of reaching and rescuing people who are trapped within the remaining middle floors of a high-rise structure.
The present invention is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft that is designed to allow first responders and emergency personnel to reach and rescue people trapped in difficult-to-reach locations such as, but not limited to, high-rise structures. The present invention seeks to address the shortcomings of traditional rescue vehicles such as fire trucks and helicopters. The VTOL aircraft is capable of docking with and extracting victims from a high-rise structure by hovering in place adjacent to the structure. The VTOL aircraft is primarily intended for use as a rescue and firefighting platform with applications relating to high-rise structures and similar circumstances. However, the VTOL aircraft may fill a variety of roles in civil, military, and municipal applications, among others. The VTOL aircraft is additionally capable of transporting first responders and emergency personnel, as well as equipment. As such, the VTOL aircraft may vary in terms of configuration based on the individual needs of the applications for the VTOL aircraft.